Awakening
by SpencerJillHastings1994
Summary: Ten years after the mysterious end of A, the girls have all started families and moved on with their lives. But when Spencer's daughter starts receiving suspicious texts, they are forced to accept that the nightmare may not be over. Canon through 5A. Spoby, Ezria, Paily, Haleb.


"Come on Stella, we're already late," Hanna Rivers said to her four year old daughter. She adjusted the Balboa baby sling against her chest, trying to shade her sleeping son's face from the hot end of summer sun.

"I'm coming!" Stella whined, racing ahead of her mother to press the doorbell of her aunt Spencer's house. Hanna joined her on the stoop just as Spencer swung the door open with a smile.

"Hey, you made it!" she said, stepping aside to let them in, "Come in, all of your cousins are out in the yard Stellabella."

"Go ahead Stell," Hanna said, giving her daughter a nudge, "I'll be right out."

The little girl nodded, taking off through the house at top speed before Hanna could call after her not to run. Hanna sighed, shooting Spencer an apologetic look.

"Sorry we're late, Caleb got caught up with work so I had to get them both ready, and _someone _had a bit of a fashion meltdown when I told her she couldn't wear white on Labor Day."

Spencer laughed, "Don't worry about it, want a drink?"

"Sure."

Hanna followed Spencer through her home, noting the perfectly Spencer smell of fresh linens and citrus. It was strange how much the house had changed since Spencer's mother had left it to her and Toby and moved to the city shortly after they graduated high school. When they were growing up it was as if Spencer's parents were always expecting _Home and Garden _to come barging through the doors demanding a photo shoot, not a throw pillow was left out of place. Since her mother had moved out Spencer had added more personal touches- family photos in place of artwork, finger paintings hanging on the refrigerator- and somehow the home seemed transformed.

But then again, hadn't their whole lives been transformed since high school?

As Spencer busied herself in the kitchen Hanna glanced out the sliding glass doors, smiling when her eye caught Stella racing one of Aria's twin daughters (it was almost impossible to tell them apart at a glance) from the swingset to the barn and back while the other twin and Emily's daughter Leah cheered them on from the swingset. Nearby Spencer's youngest, Margeaux, was engaged in a heated one-on-one soccer match with Oscar, Aria's younger son. Aria's oldest, Jonas, hung around the grill that Ezra and Toby were attempting to use. Aria and Emily, sitting at a large wooden table under the shade of an umbrella, were trying (and failing) to stifle their giggles as they watched. The whole thing was so… domestic. It wasn't a word Hanna ever thought she would use to describe their friend group, but as Max gurgled up at her from the sling across her chest she realized she might be the most domestic of them all.

"Strawberry Lemonade or Mango Iced Tea?" Spencer asked, pulling the pitchers out of the refrigerator.

"Uh, Lemonade, thanks," Hanna replied, "Hey where's Scarlett?"

She had just realized that Spencer's older daughter was nowhere to be seen. There had always been some awkwardness because of the age gap between her and the rest of their kids, but usually she would at least make an appearance at their big get togethers, either sitting with the adults or off on her own with a book.

Spencer rolled her eyes, "She's supposed to just be taking a shower and then joining us, but she's probably up there doing barre exercises again. I guess that's what I get for buying her that portable barre for her room."

Hanna chuckled, taking the glass of lemonade that Spencer was offering and following her outside. A distinct smell of charcoal wafted over from the grill as they joined Aria and Emily at the table, both women turning and smiling in welcome.

"Hey Han!" they chimed, almost in unison. Their faces were both flushed with laughter, their eyes twinkling with youthful giddiness. A lot may have changed since high school, but somehow it seemed like none of them had aged a day. Well, besides the fact that between the four of them they now had nine kids running around. Figuratively that was, because Max was still strapped to Hanna's chest, smiling a drooly smile as Emily reached across the table to tickle him.

"Oh my gosh, he's getting so big! How old is he now?"

"Almost six months, and here," Hanna lifted Max out of the sling and passed him into Emily's open arms, "My shoulder is killing me."

Aria laughed, taking a sip of her lemonade, "I don't miss that."

Her twin daughters Beatrix and Briony had just turned four in July, only a month after Stella. At their Alice in Wonderland themed party Beatrix ate so much candy she got sick, and Briony had cried in terror at Ezra's portrayal of the Mad Hatter, refusing to leave Aria's side for the rest of the party. Afterwards Aria had sworn "never again" and started dropping hints to Ezra about getting a vasectomy.

"I do," Emily sighed, her eyes glued to the baby in her arms, "I miss having a baby. Paige and I have been talking about maybe expanding our family…"

Hanna raised her eyebrows in surprise, catching Aria's eye as she nearly choked on her drink. Emily was constantly saying how much she loved getting to devote so much time and attention to Leah, and how lucky she and Paige were to have their perfect little family. And Emily had just landed her dream job as a Swim Reporter for Philadelphia's hottest Sports magazine. Between her travelling around catching meets and Paige coaching the swim team at Rosewood High in addition to her own competitive swimming career, how were they going to juggle a five year old and an infant?

Spencer was the only one who didn't seem surprised at all by Emily's confession.

"Would you adopt again?" she asked, "Or..."

"We're not sure," Emily cut in, suddenly uncomfortable, "It's all just talk right now."

Spencer nodded as a tense silence hung in the air. From somewhere behind her Hanna heard Stella squeal with delight, and couldn't help but think that she was going to ruin her new Burberry dress with all of the running around she was doing.

Finally, Aria broke the silence with a shrug, "I still think you're crazy."

"Gee, thanks" Emily laughed. Spencer chuckled too, making a silly face at Max and earning a giggle in response.

"I get it," she said, "I loved my babies when they were babies… but I'm also glad that they're older now and moving into new phases of their lives."

"How old is Scarlett now?" Hanna asked, tracing her finger along the rim of her glass, "Eleven?"

Spencer nodded, "She'll be twelve in December, but she already acts like she's about fifteen. I gave her my old work phone the other day so she has a way to get in touch with me when she's out with her friends after dance, and now she just texts nonstop."

"Are we sure she's not Hanna's kid?" Aria quipped. Hanna rolled her eyes, thankful that they couldn't hear the small buzz of her phone vibrating in her pocket. She casually reached down and turned it off as Spencer started talking again.

"The other night she came home from a sleepover and begged me to buy her tampons and teach her how to use them. Apparently one of her friends had started her period the night before and the other girl's mother had to help her because she was completely unprepared."

They all laughed through cringes, as Spencer took a long drink of iced tea.

"My mom practically threw me a party when I got my period for the first time," Aria remembered, her pale cheeks turning pink at the memory, "She baked a cake and everything."

"My mom just took me out to dinner," Emily said.

"Same," Hanna agreed.

Spencer shook her head,

"I got mine in the middle of the night while I was sleeping over at Ali's house. I was so mortified I snuck home, only to find out my parents had decided to go away for the night, and I couldn't find any pads or tampons."

"What did you do?"

"Well, Melissa found me crying in the bathtub and made me take a shower while she washed my pajamas. Then she taught me how to use a tampon and sent me back to Ali's at four AM so I wouldn't have to explain myself in the morning. I don't think Ali even realized I had left."

The girls laughed again, but this time it was bittersweet. Their minds all seemed to go to the same place, and they quickly busied themselves. Spencer pulled her phone out of her pocket to check her e-mail, Aria played with a loose thread on her LC striped sundress, and Hanna craned her neck around just in time to see Stella jump off her swing and go toppling to the ground with a laugh. Emily blinked back tears as Max wrapped his fist around her finger and shook it.

"I can't believe it's been almost ten years," she whispered.

Hanna had to admit that it was hard to accept. Sitting there in Spencer's back yard she kept half expecting Ali to come flouncing through the bushes with a little blonde haired, blue eyed, heart faced little girl skipping along beside her.

But Ali was gone. For real this time.

Hanna cleared her throat, turning back to the table.

"So Aria, do you know what class the girls are going to be in?"

Aria blinked as if she were coming out of a trance, then nodded,

"Yeah, they have Miss Judy again. What about Stella?"

"Same."

Spencer's brow furrowed in confusion,

"Wait Aria, I thought they wanted to separate your girls."

Aria's gaze dropped to her glass and she twirled a strand of long dark hair around her fingers nervously,

"They did," she raised her eyes to look over Hanna's shoulder, no doubt at the twins, who were practicing headstands side by side, giggling when their matching blue polka dot skirts flipped up over their faces and kicking their stockinged feet at each other, "but it's a big step, and I don't think Briony is ready yet. I'm going to start by putting them in separate activities and see how that goes."

"You should put one of them in ballet," Hanna piped up, "That's what I'm signing Stella up for."

Aria crinkled her nose in distaste, "Ballet?"

"She likes those leotards with the tutus."

Spencer snorted, "Of course she does. Are you going to audition her for the RYBC?"

The RYBC was the Rosewood Youth Ballet Company, a group Scarlett had been dancing with since she was three years old. In addition to hosting ballet lessons, the group also put on a production of _The Nutcracker _every year that brought in crowds from all over Pennsylvania.

"Isn't it really hard to get into? Stella's never danced before."

"They're always looking for a bunch of peanuts to play angels and mice and soldiers. And even if she doesn't get into the show they still have the best lessons in town," Spencer turned to Aria, "I know ballet isn't really your thing, but I think it could be really good for Briony. It really brought Scarlett out of her shell when she was younger."

Aria chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, considering, then sighed

"I guess it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world… but no tutu. I'm just getting her a plain leotard unless they tell me otherwise."

"Now you just have to sign Leah up Em, and then we can all hang out while they have rehearsal or whatever," Hanna said with a smile, trying to bring Emily back to Earth. She gave a half hearted laugh, but shook her head.

"Leah's been begging for 'real' swim lessons, because apparently learning from a professional swim coach doesn't count if she's your mom, so Paige and I signed her up for lessons at the Y. Beatrix might enjoy them too Aria," Emily said.

"Oh, uh," Aria frowned, "I was actually planning on putting Beatrix and Jonas and in soccer and switching Oscar to swimming."

Spencer, Hanna, and Emily shared a look of confusion. Out of the corner of her eye Hanna could see Oscar and Margeaux still engaged in their one-on-one soccer game. Margeaux was good, but Oscar seemed to always be one step ahead of her, kicking the ball past her makeshift goal posts before she could even process what had happened. The year before he had been the youngest player on the town's junior select team. So the sudden switch to swimming didn't seem to make a lot of sense. But Aria was back to staring at her drink, her fingers tracing patterns in the condensation, clearly not going to offer up an explanation.

"Margeaux's really going to miss him now," Spencer said after a moment, "She's already upset that they're not in the same class this year."

Aria cleared her throat, "Well, after the incident last month his doctor recommended we take him out of contact sports and swap them for other competitive sports so he can still have that outlet for his energy without, uh..."

She trailed off, and they all nodded in understanding, unsure of what to say. They all had a sort of silent agreement not to to talk about what had happened the month before. Just the thought of it always sent Aria reeling, and she twisted a silver bangle around her wrist anxiously, at a loss for words.

Luckily, at that moment Scarlett finally appeared from inside the house. It always astounded Hanna how much she looked like Spencer had at the same age. From the dark curly hair to the long willowy figure to the seemingly endless collection of Ralph Lauren tennis dresses, the only thing Scarlett didn't have was her mother's perfect vision. Perched on the bridge of her nose was a pair of brown plaid tortoise frame eyeglasses that, like her dress, proudly bore the Ralph Lauren trademark.

"She lives!" Hanna joked as Scarlett approached the table, causing the girl to blush as her other aunts and mother turned to greet her.

"Sorry, I had to shower," she explained, giving each of her aunts a hug before perching on the arm of Spencer's chair. Spencer rolled her eyes, combing her fingers through Scarlett's still damp curls.

"Was that before or after you did more barre exercises?"

Scarlett sighed, "Mom, I _told you_, if I don't get the extra practice time in I'll never get to play Clara! Nora and Madison are trying to convince their moms to hire a tutor to homeschool them so they'll have more time to dance during the day."

"Do you want to be homeschooled?"

"Ew no, I just want more time to dance. I don't know what I'll do if Nora or Madison gets the part!"

Spencer and the others laughed at Scarlett's antics, and she began to pout, twisting her hair into a messy bun so her mother would stop playing with it.

"Somehow," Spencer assured her daughter, "I think you'll survive either way."

Before Scarlett could object the phone in her hand beeped with a new text, and she opened it, distracted. After a moment her cupid's bow lips turned downwards in a frown.

"Mom, I think you forgot to tell this person you got a new number. Either that or they have the wrong number, because I don't know anyone who goes by A."

Time seemed to stop as Hanna, Aria, Emily, and Spencer's heads all whipped to look at each other, their eyes widening with fear and disbelief.

_There's no way, _Hanna thought, swallowing a lump in her throat as Spencer took the phone from Scarlett. But as she peered over Spencer's shoulder she could read the text on the screen as clear as day.

No amount of practice will prepare you for what I've got planned. -A

Her head began to swim as she sat back in her seat. It was impossible, there was literally no way this could be happening again.

Max began to fuss in Emily's arms, and Hanna reached to take him back, not meeting Emily's nervous look. She pressed her lips to her son's forehead, inhaling the comforting smell of baby shampoo to calm her nerves. Somewhere in the back of her mind she registered Spencer telling Scarlett that the text was nothing to worry about, probably just a wrong number, but her voice seemed strangely far away.

They had been free of A for almost ten years. So why now, on the 21st anniversary of Alison's disappearance, was he or she or _whoever _finally back?

And more importantly,

_How?_


End file.
